Pickup trucks include a truck bed that has a floor pan onto which cargo is loaded. The floor pan may exhibit distortion or cracks when cargo is loaded onto the floor pan. Heavy loads may crush down on the floor pans beads from above at locations where a structural cross member rests on the frame. This issue is more pronounced with pickup trucks that have higher payloads and that have aluminum floor pans. The material properties of aluminum make the floor pan more susceptible to deformation while carrying extremely heavy loads in the pickup box. Aluminum pickup trucks have increased payload capacity compared to heavier steel trucks.
An important aspect of pickup truck beds is that they must exhibit excellent durability to meet the expectations of truck owners. Cracks in the floor pan or other surface defects adversely affect truck owners' perception of quality and overall satisfaction.
This disclosure is directed to the above problems and other problems as summarized below.